[christian u]

 Chord Hugo vs iFi idac2,
is the Hugo so much better?
$2400 vs 400$?
Is it possible that there is such a difference in the quality of the DAC's?
Or is it build quality?
Or production costs?
    
http://chordelectronics.co.uk/products-info.asp?id=92                    http://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/idac2-special-ifi-music-sampler-dsd-album-by-sound-liaison/
 
 
If anyone has the possibility to compare them directly, the 3 same source files in DSD, PCM and FLAC from Sound Liaison's iFi sampler would make for excellent comparison material.
http://www.soundliaison.com/
 
The Hugo has received excellent reviews, only negative I found was this;

 

Hugo has the same problem as any portable amp I have ever tried: It picks up low frequency telecommunication transmissions. If a smartphone is close by it struggles to have a good signal, therefore jumps down to Edge or GPRS technology, you can hear the electromagnetic interference through your headphones. This is an issue that I perceive with all amps so far, but perhaps Chord can think about using a similar EMI shielding as smartphones have for their next device so that train rides can be even more enjoyable.

I havent found any reviews on the iFi Idac2 yet except Head-Fi member Rickyleelee's which was rather possitive; http://www.head-fi.org/products/ifi-micro-idac2-usb-dac-hp-amp/reviews/13581
the cons were;

 

Cons

- The device doesn’t have any battery or AC/DC adapter (or iPower) but is USB powered.

- The iDac2 may not have enough power to push high-end/decent headphones (like Sennheiser HD700 or above) so you may need micro iCan for better performance.

- The iDac2 seems not designed for the portable/mobile devise due to insufficient power supply through these devices.

 

[TraverS]

Chord Hugo is $1400 now? I thought it was $2400.

 

[christian u]

You are right!
corrected.

 

[Kheadfi]

Here are the spec's.Seems  to me the output of the Hugo is stronger or am I reading it wrong?
 
 Hugo:

 Advanced digital volume control
Crossfeed filter network
Battery powered for approximately 12 hours operation
Input, sample rate and volume level indication by colour-change LEDs
26K tap-length filter (more than double when compared to the QuteHD DAC)
Headphone output: 110dB SPL into a 300ohm headphone load
Output power - 1KHz 1V sinewave both channels driven 0.1% distortion
600 ohms 35mW
300 ohms 70mW
56 ohms 320mW
32 ohms 600mW
8 ohms 720mW
THD - 1KHz 3V output: 0.0005%
Dynamic Range: 120dB
Output impedance: 0.075 ohms
Damping factor >100
Weight: 0.4kg
Dimensions: 100x20x132mm (WxHxD)

 
Idac2:

 

Specifications:
Input:	USB3.0 (USB2.0 compatible)
Output:	SPDIF RCA (only PCM up to 192KHz)
	Audio RCA
	3.5mm Headphone
Formats:	44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192/384KHz PCM
	2.8/3.1/5.6/6.2/11.2/12.4MHz DSD
	353/384KHz DXD
DAC:	Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD DAC by Burr Brown (1-DAC Chip; 2-Channel; 4-Signals)
Filters:
-PCM:	Bit-Perfect/Minimum Phase/Standard, Digital filters selectable
-DSD:	Extreme/Extended/Standard, Analogue filters selectable
-DXD:	Bit-Perfect Processing, Fixed Analogue filter
Line Section:
Output:	2.1V (+/-0.05V) fixed
Zout:	< 39 Ohm
SNR:	> 114dB(A) @ 0dBFS
THD+N:	< 0.0025% @ 0dBFS (100k Load)
	< 0.025% @ 0dBFS (600R Load)
Headphone Section:
Output:	> 350mW (2.40V) into 16R (<10% THD+N)
	> 34mW (3.20V) into 300R (< 0.1% THD+N)
Zout:	< 2 Ohm
THD+N:	< 0.0025% (1V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)
SNR:	> 114dBA (3.2V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)
Power consumption:	<1.5W
Dimensions:	158(l)x68(w)x28(h)mm
Weight:	265g(0.58 lbs)

 

[Kheadfi]

I mean with those specs the Hugo should be what...... twice as loud?

 

[christian u]

I have moved the thread to here;http://www.head-fi.org/t/779939/chord-hugo-vs-ifi-idac2-is-the-hugo-so-much-better-2400-vs-400